Rolling for a good cause

Published 9:05 pm Wednesday, November 19, 2008

If you’re looking for the world’s largest philanthropic ball of tape, look no further than Morgan Academy.

“Cramer,” as the 165-pund ball of tape is known, not only has an opportunity to reach record-breaking size but to help a teacher in need at the school’s first Cramer Day on Tuesday.

Proceeds from event T-shirts will be presented to Teresa Collins, wife of the late Mike Collins, who lost his battle with terminal cancer on Nov. 7.

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“It’s just been awesome,” said Collins. “They’ve been there for everything. They just call and ask what they can do. It’s just overwhelming. It just lifts you up to God. It definitely lessens the load.”

The ball of tape was not begun with the intent of headlining its own day.

“I just had some 10th grade boys who have Cramer athletic tape and began making tape balls,” said Janice Lyon, a teacher at Morgan. “Every day it was getting bigger and bigger.”

Several members of Morgan’s 10th grade class wanted to do something to help the Collins family. They decided to build a fundraiser around the growing ball of tape to aid with Collins’s cancer treatments. Lyon informed the Cramer Tape Company — the ball’s namesake — of the project, and Cramer pitched in a free case of tape.

“God put it together, and I don’t know how it all came together, but it just took off,” said Lyon. “Its just kind of a fun thing to raise money. It doesn’t even make sense.”

According to Morgan’s Web site, T-shirts were sold between Nov. 4 and Nov. 7. To date, the sales have raised $3,600. The school is still accepting donations from anyone who wants to contribute.

“It just started out as a little goofing around,” said Morgan Academy Headmaster Randy Skipper. “I’m excited the kids have taken this on and gone on with it. It’s just something very positive that shows we care about families and people of Selma.”

And perhaps best of all for Morgan students, Tuesday offers an opportunity to wear something instead of a Morgan uniform. All students who bought T-shirts will be allowed to wear T-shirts and blue jeans at Tuesday’s festivities.